


Writing

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23176780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack writes lyrics for All Time Low, but is nervous to show them to his band.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Writing

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request!

“I’ve got to be honest; I think us renting this house to work on our next album is a great idea! It’s been so long since we’ve written a record like this, so I’m excited to see what comes from this!” Rian stated, taking a sip of his drink.   
Due to the band being on a hiatus from playing shows, they all thought it would be a good idea to rent out a house together and stay for a month to write the majority of their next record. It was currently their first night in the house, and after spending the day getting all of their things unpacked and settled, they’d gone out to eat and were now having some drinks in the living room before calling it a night.  
“Yeah, this was a really good idea, I feel like we’ll get a lot of good work out of this. I’m glad you pushed us to do this, Alex,” Zack added.  
“I’m glad you guys went with it. I feel like living together will make everything less stressful, so we can remember how to be us as musicians, which will help us to make a great record! So, I wasn’t going to show you guys this until tomorrow, but I’ve been having some ideas lately, and I put them in my notes and my voice memos, check it out!” Alex proudly exclaimed, handing his phone off to his friends.   
Rian and Zack looked through everything Alex had come up with, but Jack decided not to look, staying in his seat and continuing to sip at his drink.  
“You’re not looking at what I came up with? Normally, you’re the first person who wants to see my ideas,” Alex pointed out to Jack, a bit of confusion in his voice.   
“Of course I want to see what you’ve done, but I’m super worn out, man. I can’t look at anything band related right now. Either way, I’m sure it’s all great, your work always is,” Jack replied with a small smile.  
“I appreciate you saying that, but are you sure you don’t want to take a look at some of the lyrics I came up with?” Alex tried, starting to sound a bit hurt.  
“Yeah man, this all looks really good!” Rian added, continuing to scroll through Alex’s phone with Zack.  
“That’ll be the first thing I do tomorrow morning, I promise. Since I’m so worn out, I’m going to head to bed so I can be helpful and productive tomorrow, since that’s when all of the work is really going to start. Sleep well, guys,” Jack said as he got up from his seat on the couch.  
“If you really need to rest up, do that. I’m excited to show you everything tomorrow!” Alex said, a small smile on his face.   
Rian and Zack both said their goodnights to Jack before Jack went into the kitchen to throw away his empties, then made his way upstairs to what was going to be his room for the next month. Jack quickly changed into some comfy PJs, then locked his door, so no one would walk in on him.   
Once he was sure he was alone, he dug around in his suitcase until he finally found what he’d been looking for- a small, brown leather-bound notebook with a black pen attached to it. He took the notebook to his bed with him and started to flip through it.   
In the time off from the band, Jack had started a side project with a friend, and was properly taught on how to lyrically write songs. Out of all of the years that the band had been a thing, Alex was always the lyricist, he was responsible for almost all of the words that were on the albums, and that the fans had fallen in love with. Jack knew that Alex had a unique writing style that made their songs what they really were, down to the core.   
In Jack’s free time, he’d written some lyrics that he thought could be good for All Time Low songs, but he was nervous to show them to the rest of the band. Over years, it’d been a running joke that Jack wasn’t a great songwriter, but now that he’d learned how to write properly, he wanted to write for the band, and be taken seriously as he did it.   
Jack flipped through everything that he’d come up with until he reached a song he’d started a few days before. He only had the verses written so far; he’d been having trouble coming up with a chorus to fit the song. He’d worked very hard on this song, but he was very iffy on showing everyone, since he was self-conscious about his abilities at this point.   
After reading over the lyrics he’d written a few times, Jack decided that he’d show them to Alex, despite how nervous he was to do so. Jack knew that he should wait until the next day to show everything to Alex, since it was getting late, but he decided that he couldn’t wait that long. Grabbing his songbook before getting up from his bed, Jack walked over to the door, and sat by it, so he could hear when Alex went to bed for the night, deciding to show him then.   
After about twenty minutes, Jack heard Alex say goodnight to Rian and Zack, then go into his room, shutting the door behind him. Jack got up, then walked over to Alex’s room, lightly knocking on the door.  
“Come in,” he heard Alex say from inside of his room. Jack nervously opened the door, then walked in as Alex was putting on his PJs.  
“Jack, you’re still awake? I thought you were really worn out,” Alex said as he took a seat on his bed.  
“That might have been a bit of an excuse, just so I could leave the living room,” Jack replied in a small voice.  
“Oh, well, are you okay, man? You’re usually the last to leave any conversation, especially when there’s alcohol involved,” Alex pointed out, laughing some.  
“Yeah, I’m fine, but I have something that I really want to show you, but I’m a bit anxious to do so. I’m really excited about this, and I think that you might be, too,” Jack said, sounding as nervous as he looked.  
“You’re anxious to show me something? Jack, you’ve been my best friend for almost twenty years now, you can show me or tell me anything. What is it?” Alex asked, scooting over so Jack could take a seat next to him. Jack sat down and pulled out his songbook.  
“So, you know how I have my side project, and that I kind of learned how to write songs? Like, how to write lyrics?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, what about it?” Alex continued.  
“Well, ever since we talked about the band coming here to make our next record, I’ve been dabbling in writing lyrics for All Time Low,” Jack said, holding out his songbook for Alex.  
“That’s awesome, Jack! I’ll tell you what, your lyrics will be the first thing we work with in the morning,” Alex decided, smiling at his friend.  
“Well, I was actually hoping that I could show some of them to you tonight,” Jack replied, opening up his book to the song that he liked the most.  
“Well, it’s a bit late, and you didn’t look at my lyrics from earlier,” Alex said back.  
“I know, and I should’ve looked at yours, but as soon as you mentioned songwriting, I thought of what I’ve written, and I got super anxious. I’m nervous that the fans won’t like what I came up with, but I’m even more nervous that you won’t,” Jack admitted in a vulnerable voice.  
“I’m sure that what ever you came up with is great, but why don’t we wait until tomorrow, when we can show Zack and Rian, too?” Alex suggested.  
“I really want to show you now, I don’t think I can show all three of you guys at once, I’m too nervous for that. Also, you and I used to have late night writing sessions when we were in high school, and I’d help you no matter what time you asked for it. Now, I’m asking you to do the same” Jack insisted.  
“Okay, let’s see what you came up with, man,” Alex said, finally giving in.  
“Awesome! So, I don’t have a chorus yet, or a title, but I do have the verses and some chords. Out of everything I’ve written, this is the one that I’m the proudest of,” Jack explained, handing Alex the book flipped to the song.  
“Well, I bet once we have a chorus, a title won’t be too hard to come up with. Let’s see those verses,” Alex said, taking the book and reading what Jack had written.  
“I really like this, I think we could put a killer chorus in, and have a single for the next record! Hand me my guitar, let’s write a chorus!” Alex, exclaimed, sounding excited.  
“You really like it?” Jack asked, a big smile taking over his face.  
“I love it! This is going to be great for the overall vibe of the album!” Alex replied as Jack gave Alex his guitar. The two of them spent the next twenty minutes writing the chorus, and they came up with some chords that worked well with everything.  
“We have a whole song here, man! well, aside from the drum and bass parts, but this is a great foundation to what is going to be a kick ass song!” Alex said, setting his guitar down.  
“I’m so glad you liked it, I really thought that you wouldn’t,” Jack said in a small voice.  
“I loved it! Why did you doubt yourself so much, man? you wrote a damn good song, and it’s a lot better than some of the things I’ve written before,” Alex said as Jack awkwardly shifted around some.  
“Well, we’ve been a band for, what, sixteen years now? In all of that time, I’ve never written lyrics. In fact, we’ve made jokes as a band about how me writing lyrics would never happen. I guess I just thought that you wouldn’t take me seriously because of that,” Jack confessed, sounding anxious, like he had earlier.  
“I’m sorry you felt that way, man. I know lyrics are usually my thig, but I’d be more than happy to let you help in the writing process from now on. What you showed me tonight is really good, Jack. Don’t sell yourself short, you really did come up with some great material. Since it’s more developed now, do you think you’ll feel ready to show it to Rian and Zack tomorrow?” Alex asked.  
“I think so. Hopefully the fact that you seem to really like that will help make them take it seriously,” Jack said, nervously laughing.  
“Even if I didn’t love it as much as I do, I’m sure that they’d still take it seriously. Songwriting is a very vulnerable thing, and they know that. Laughing at you or treating this like a joke wouldn’t be cool, and I’m sure they’re aware of that. I think the fans are going to love it, if that makes you feel any better,” Alex said, a reassuring smile on his face.   
“I hope so, I’m actually super nervous for their reactions. They’re so used to your songwriting, and to change it up some might not sit well with them,” Jack pointed out.  
“I see where you’re coming from, but I don’t think that you should be too worried about that. I’ve written things that some people love, but that others can’t stand. It does hurt some when people express a dislike towards something you poured your heart into, but that’s just how it is. What matters is that you love it, which you do, right?” Alex asked.  
“I do, I feel really proud of it,” Jack replied with a small smile.  
“That’s all that matters, man. I love it, and Rian and Zack will, too. I bet more fans will end up liking it than you’re expecting. Don’t be too stressed, just trust your work, and you’ll be just fine. I hope you write more in the future; it’ll take a lot of stress off of me, and it’ll help you to get even better over time,” Alex explained.  
“Thank you for this, Alex, it really does mean a lot to me. I’m excited to fully develop this song tomorrow with the others. Thanks for believing in me,” Jack said, getting up from Alex’s bed, and walking over to the door with a yawn.  
“Thanks for believing in yourself, man. Get lots of rest, we have a big day of writing ahead tomorrow!” Alex exclaimed, getting comfortable in his bed.  
“Will do, sleep well, man,” Jack said, walking out of Alex’s room. When he got back to his room, Jack turned off the lights and got into his bed.   
As he fell asleep, a big smile appeared on his face. Jack was over the moon that he’d written a song that Alex ended up loving, and that many fans would eventually love, as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a request I wrote for someone on here! I think I already said this, but my university is closed until April, and while I'll be doing online classes, I'll have a decent amount of time to get some writing done! I have a few more requests to work on, but always feel free to send in more, I have quite a bit of time to write now!! I hope you all enjoyed this story, thanks for reading! Lots of love, Liv.


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